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Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare rated for PS3 by ESRB
If a recently published ESRB rating is any indication, Sony is getting ready to re-release Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare on PS3 -- which, considering the original came out in 2001, might need a new subtitle. The rating might indicate that the game is simply being ported over as a PSOne Classic on PSN; however, ESRB ratings for such releases usually include a PSP designation, as well. Should the generally well-received horror title be remade for PS3, it would make for an interesting cross-platform hat trick -- The New Nightmare's already appeared on PS1 and PS2. We get this bad boy on the PSP, NGP and Xperia Play, and all of a sudden, we might be looking at a new PlayStation brand mascot: Gun-Couple! The couple with guns.
ESRB rates Witcher 2 for Xbox 360 [update 2: CD Projekt responds]
For some of us, the recommended specs for The Witcher 2 are, let's say, a little daunting. It is thus with a heart full of hope that we look at a recent ESRB rating for an Xbox 360 version. The rating was discovered by Eurogamer, which adds that CD Projekt is planning to announce a game at E3 "that console gamers might be interested in." CD Projekt has been cautious about a potential console release of The Witcher 2 for some time, though it's aware of the size of the console audience. Given the very warm critical reception The Witcher 2 has received so far, a console port would probably be a safe bet. It's also worth noting that the PC version already plays well with a controller -- the menus even reflect Xbox 360 button mapping when using an Xbox 360 controller. Update: The ESRB has removed Xbox 360 as a platform in its Witcher 2 listing. We've reached out to CD Projekt for comment. Update 2: CD Projekt has responded to Joystiq, saying, "We've said for some time that we'd love to bring The Witcher 2 to consoles, but we haven't made any announcements to that effect. Our focus has been and continues to be on the PC version. We're going to be showing off something at E3, and we'll announce what that is shortly before the show."
ESRB: SNK classic 'Marvin's Maze' coming to PS3 and PSP
With the PlayStation Network functional once again in many territories, and the PlayStation Store coming back soon (possibly tomorrow), Sony will soon be free to return to the very important work it was undertaking earlier this year. We're speaking, of course, about the sale of obscure SNK games. The ESRB just provided a clue about the next game from the publisher to hit PS3 and PSP, and in a surprise twist, it's not a Neo Geo game. Marvin's Maze is actually a 1983 arcade game about a cute character trying to collect dots in a multi-layered maze, while avoiding or destroying "Robonoids." In addition to this apparent PS3/PSP release, Marvin's Maze is part of the PSP SNK Arcade Classics 0 collection, which has yet to be officially announced for North American release. [Image: The Arcade Flyer Archive]
ESRB: Burnout Crash to feature 'cartoony' mayhem, lobster attacks on PS3, 360
As Burnout Crash makes its world tour of ratings boards, we're learning more about EA's racing game -- still in advance of any official announcement. According to the ESRB, Burnout Crash is coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and features a distinctly non-realistic style. "From a top-down perspective," the content description reads, "players initiate crashes by driving 'cartoony' vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, vans, buses) into busy intersections; multiple crashes trigger score multipliers and rack up large 'bills' of property damage." The description also reveals levels that urge players to destroy police cars before they are able to arrest you, and other levels in which you have to avoid UFOs, tornadoes and "lobster monsters." Between the new viewpoint and the lobster monsters, this is shaping up to be a very different Burnout experience!
Chrono Trigger rated by ESRB for Virtual Console
Square Enix's beloved Chrono Trigger has popped up on the ESRB site for "Wii," meaning the SNES classic will also make its way to the North American Virtual Console. The title was previously announced for digital distribution on the Nintendo console for Japan and Europe. No official word on price, but it'll likely be the same 100-point markup as in Japan, making the title a premium 900 Wii Points ($9). The game was also recently rated for PSP and PS3, alluding to a PSN release. Still no word about the mobile version for North America, but at least there's still the DS version.
'Death Smiles 2X' rated by ESRB, Cave publishing
Our mothers always said "If death smiles at you once, you should try to wrap up your personal affairs. But if death smiles a second time, he's probably just flirting." Imagine our disappointment then when we read the ESRB listing for Death Smiles 2X to find it was not, as we'd assumed, a dating sim set at River of Styx High, but rather an Xbox 360 follow-shmup to Cave's bullet hell release Deathsmiles (seen above). Cave will take over publishing duties from Aksys on the game, which features shooting "various projectiles (bombs, bullets, lasers, arrows, etc.) at elephants, pigs, goblins, bats, and monsters in constant air battle." ... OK, so that's probably a better concept than ours. Probably.
Chrono Trigger rated for PSP and PS3
Square Enix's pretty-much-the-best-game-ever Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger has the distinct disadvantage of being, as aforementioned, pretty much the best game ever and, simultaneously, pretty expensive in its native SNES format. Fortunately, the game's not too pricey on the DS, but that might not be the only platform to grab it on the cheap in the near future -- the ESRB has rated Chrono Trigger for release on PS3 and PSP. The ESRB listing doesn't provide any additional details about the title, but if we were betting men, we'd say it's the PS1 re-release that was included in the Final Fantasy Chronicles collection (to be distributed through PSN as a "PSOne Classic"). If we were men who were really bad at betting, we'd say it was some kind of magical Direct X11 remake, chock-full of social networking features and support for 3D TVs.
Report: Game industry best at preventing sale of mature content to minors
The Federal Trade Commission recently conducted an annual undercover shopping survey and found that, of the various consumer entertainment industries, the video game industry was actually best at self-policing and keeping material intended for mature audiences away from children. Following a trend since 2000, the game industry scored very well with only 13 percent of underage shoppers able to buy M-rated games, down from 20 percent last year. Of the various retailers in the survey, Walmart had the worst track record with 20 percent of sales allowed, while Target let only 8 percent of potential shoppers buy games they weren't supposed to. Outside of the game industry, the music industry was the least effective, with 64 percent of the FTC's shoppers able to buy music marked with a Parental Advisory Label. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board responded to the survey through president Patricia Vance, saying it was happy with the results and that retailers have helped. "The strong support that the ESRB ratings have enjoyed from retailers is crucial, underscoring their firm commitment to selling video games responsibly," she said in a statement. The FTC issues this report to Congress every year and says that, despite enforcement improvements across the board, "more needs to be done" to prevent the sale of mature content to young audiences.
ESRB reveals Dino Crisis 2 on PSN, Mega Man 5 on Virtual Console
Good news for PSP, PS3, or Wii owners who like to download old Capcom games! The ESRB brings word of two upcoming classic rereleases from the publisher. The PSOne Classic Dino Crisis 2 is headed to PSN soon, allowing you to experience not just a bunch of scary dinosaurs, but also the first directing work of Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi. In addition, the NES game Mega Man 5 was rated for Wii, a platform that is being blessed with Mega Man titles semi-regularly (one arrived today!) Thanks, Capcom, for ensuring that we'll always have dinosaurs and robots (and sometimes robot dinosaurs) to shoot. [Thanks, Jocaju]
Sega's Monster World 4 coming to XBLA, PSN, and not Virtual Console
Yes, there have been a million Wonder Boy games re-released on Virtual Console and other platforms, so another one doesn't seem like it would be a big deal. But Monster World IV, originally for Mega Drive/Genesis (and despite the name, the last game in the populous Wonder Boy series), never came out in North America. Monster World IV, starring a green-haired girl and her long-eared spheroid partner, is also considered the best game in the series. According to the ESRB, Sega is finally preparing an American release of the game, on PSN and XBLA. Strangely, no Wii version is mentioned, despite the fact that Virtual Console is, like, the place for old games, and despite the fact that so many Wonder Boy games have been released on that platform -- including this one, in Japan.
ESRB outs Rise of Nightmares' plot, 'revealing' creatures
Wondering what's on the dreamscape for Sega's upcoming Kinect horror title, Rise of Nightmares? While Sega hasn't revealed much, the game's page on the ESRB site describes a first-person "horror-adventure game in which players assume the role of an American tourist who must rescue his wife from a deranged scientist" holed up in a deserted mansion. Deranged, indeed: "zombie-like creatures and disfigured monsters" stand in the American tourist's way, and he must employ "brass knuckles, knives, hatchets, and chainsaws" to get through them. Beyond physical harm, he'll have to wrestle with his own psyche, as "some female creatures are depicted in revealing outfits (e.g., 'pasties' that partially cover their breasts)." Stay focused, American tourist! As a result of all these horrifying (and sexy) elements, Rise of Nightmares has been rated M for Mature. It's expected to launch sometime in 2011.
Dead or Alive Dimensions box art deemed too leggy by ESRB [update]
The artwork adorning the cover of Dead of Alive Dimensions for 3DS when it hits the US this May will look more or less like it did on the Japanese release, with one change: no inner-thigh. Tecmo tells Joystiq that the ESRB found the original art (left) too racy because it showed too much of Kasumi's right leg. In response, the company's art department whipped up an alternate cover (right) with more, well ... coverage of the highly offensive area. Whatever -- we'll still like this vetoed cover much better. Plus, it's completely leg-fee. Update, March 24: In what seems like some backpedaling in order to make nice with the ESRB, Tecmo has told 1UP the following: "[T]his whole thing is getting blown way out of proportion. The truth is that when we submitted the box art as-is from Japan, there were a few parties both internal and external who thought there might be some issue with the image. Nobody 'demanded' anything be changed, it was just pointed out. You have to pick your battles, and covering up that small bit of the image seemed to be harmless. Honestly, if you look at the comparisons between the Japanese and US box shots, it's not like the image loses anything after the edit. "The ESRB has been very helpful working with us on recent projects. If the box art was something we felt really strongly about, we would have kept it as-is. But we just didn't really see the harm in editing it to make it appropriate for everyone involved." [Image: aussie-nintendo]
ESRB: Mighty Flip Champs coming to PSP in 'DX' form
One of DSiWare's better-received games is moving to a new home. WayForward's Mighty Flip Champs, which is about navigating maze-like rooms by flipping between two of them at a time, is heading to PSP in a version called Mighty Flip Champs DX, according to a rating found on the ESRB. Without an official announcement, there are still a lot of questions to answer about this version of the puzzle platformer -- like when it's coming out, and, um, how a game about flipping between two screens is going to work on a system known for its singular screen. We'll ask the mighty WayForward.
ESRB breakdowns say 5 percent of games were rated M in 2010
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has published its annual breakdown of classifications it applied to 2010's video game releases, arranged in the delicious-looking pie chart posted above. As you can see, Mature games made up a surprisingly small sliver of the whole -- only 5 percent of the 1,638 games rated last year received an "M" rating, a drop in the bucket compared to the 55 percent of games that received an "E" designation. These statistics haven't changed much over the past few years -- actually, Mature games actually fell by one percent year-over-year. So, you know, if anyone tries to convince you that games are solely designed to mold everyday citizens into unfeeling murderbots, feel free to drop that knowledge on them.
ESRB releases first erotic novella: The Duke Nukem Forever Rating Summary
We don't normally do erotica reviews here at Joystiq, but we thought the ESRB's freshman effort at the genre, "The Duke Nukem Forever Ratings Summary," deserved our attention. Here are some of the hottest bits. During the course of the game, players enter a strip-club level and view several topless dancers and receive lap dances. A couple of missions within this level require players to recover sex toys and pictures of topless women. We've seen worse starts. Here the author isn't showing us the sex explictly, but rather setting the scene for sex. Very hot. A few sequences strongly imply sexual acts: two women appear to perform fellatio on the central character (e.g., raising their heads from his lap)-though there is no actual depiction of the sex act. This is fine, and we're defintely getting aroused, but where's the color? Where's the line that takes us inside what the characters are feeling? Duke moans and leans up against the wall of a bathroom stall (furnished with a hole)-it is implied that a sex act (not depicted) occurs. There we go. We can't wait to see where the author takes us next. Bathroom humor includes the ability to urinate in toilets or urinals and/or pick up feces from toilets and throw it aga-- OK, you know what? This clearly isn't for us. ESRB, you're getting an "F." Good luck on your next story.
ESRB rates Parasite Eve for PS3 and PSP
It looks like the North American PSOne Classics selection will get a little closer to catching up to the Japanese store soon -- and in the category that really counts: vintage Square RPGs. An ESRB rating has popped up for a PlayStation 3 and PSP release of Parasite Eve. Square Enix hasn't said when the action RPG will be available; however, the mitochondria in our brains are telling us that we can likely expect it around the March 29 release of The 3rd Birthday on PSP. It was released about a month in advance of that PSP game in Japan. [Thanks, Brian]
ESRB rates Magicka for PS3 and 360, Paradox still hoping for multiplatform release
A ray of hope has been cast on the chances of lighthearted action RPG Magicka arriving on consoles. The game has been rated by the ESRB for both Xbox 360 and PS3 (the PC version should launch this month). Now, before co-op dungeon crawler fans get too excited, know that the ESRB is a fickle mistress and not always the prognosticator we believe it to be. It's no secret that Paradox is looking to get Magicka on "all consoles". When reached for comment about the ESRB rating, Paradox producer Shams Jorjani told Joystiq the the company is "covering [its] bases." He added that the game was built using XNA so it will run on Xbox 360. He concluded, "We are doing everything we can to get this game where it belongs: In front of your couch." It's worth noting that Paradox originally intended to release its class-based shooter, Lead & Gold, in a more multiplatform manner. It was eventually released for PC and PSN, and the XBLA version never came to light. Here's hoping Paradox has ironed out the multiplatform kinks this time around.
Sounds like Chime is headed for US PSN, too
Originally developed for Xbox Live Arcade as the first of OneBigGame's for-charity titles, music-based puzzler Chime is one step closer to release on PS3 via PlayStation Network. Already rated by classification boards in Australia and Germany, the game has now received an "E" rating from the ESRB. Now this PS3 version of the game just needs to be, y'know, announced. (Hopefully with Portal's "Still Alive" included.)
ESRB reveals Ar Tonelico Qoga's 'suggestive moans and comments'
The third (and supposedly final) Ar Tonelico game, Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel, will arrive on PS3 in March. The ESRB's content description for Gust's RPG gives us a bit of a preview of what to expect: shame, mostly. "Some power moves cause female characters' clothes to vanish in layers," the ratings board says. "The characters are often depicted holding (covering) their breasts, wearing only underwear, or standing behind strips of light that obscure their genitals." Other described scenes feature "male characters [encouraging] a woman to strip" and a scene in which a male character removes a magical crystal from a female, accompanied by what the ESRB calls "suggestive moans and comments." How suggestive? "Aoto's putting his hand inside Soma," for example, and "Fumble around every inch inside of her . . . you will find what you're looking for . . . !" Though you might have already guessed, Ar Tonelico Qoga is rated M for eMbarrassing Mature.%Gallery-114535%
MLB Bobblehead Pros get a nod from the ESRB
There's one feature that's been severely underutilized in this generation of gaming: big-head mode. Thankfully, 2K Sports is getting it on like Donkey Kong™. MLB Bobblehead Pros, as described by the ESRB, is a "baseball simulation game in which players compete using 'bobblehead doll' versions of real major league players." With big-headed baseball players running around, we fathom the game will look a lot like Japan's Jikkyo Powerful Pro Yakyu franchise. The ratings listing pegs Bobblehead Pros for release on PS3 and Xbox 360, which has us thinking thinking this may be a downloadable PSN/XBLA title. Surely, we'll find out more before the beginning of the baseball season later this year.
